So, after more arguing - like the dysfunctional family that they've become - members of the state Legislature on Tuesday again failed to find any spending cuts to address the state's growing deficit.

In the end, our lawmakers didn't seem to mind that Tuesday was the deadline set by Gov. David Paterson to come to some agreements.

And they don't seem to mind that their inaction will - in the long run - lead to even more costly problems for the state.

With so many powerful special-interest groups pressuring lawmakers on so many different fronts, the likelihood of common ground being found on budget cuts gets pretty slim.

A new “coalition” of lawmakers sprung up over the weekend and declared that they would block any attempt to act on Paterson's proposal for a 4.5 percent midyear cut to school aid.

Others are saying that social services for children and the elderly need to be protected.

The problem is an immense one, because if everything is considered untouchable, than nothing can get accomplished.

Families that keep using credit cards to pay bills - even when the household income has shrunk - eventually come to the realization that they are going to keep falling further behind. In Albany, we have a state government that has been acting in much the same way.

Senate President Malcolm Smith on Tuesday had the nerve to say that lawmakers were close to working out a cost-cutting deal but that it would fall short of the full $3.2 billion deficit.

If big cuts can't be worked out - and that seems unlikely - what the Legislature needs to do is find small cuts from a large number of sources.

Yes, it will be difficult, but our dysfunctional family in Albany needs to cut up its credit cards and face the reality of its woeful balance sheet.